


Long Black Veil

by shyeehaw



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: AU, Angst and Feels, Angst and Tragedy, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Tragic Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-03-01 06:28:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18794812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shyeehaw/pseuds/shyeehaw
Summary: If you do know Johnny Cash's song you might know what's about to happen, even so I hope you enjoy <3A pairing no one asked for yet I was inspired by the song





	Long Black Veil

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KazikluBae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KazikluBae/gifts).



Her blue blouse merged with the horizon, with the sky. But not her eyes. Yes, they were blue, but not only that. Arthur searched her eyes as if he walked on thin ice, they seemed cold and hardened, but emotion insisted on resurging to the surface. How he wanted to have a peek through those thoughts and contradictory feelings. How Arthur wished those eyes wore not framed by puffy eyelids, tired of crying when no could see.

Oblivious to his mom’s sighs, the little boy crawled around her, playing with the dirt. It wasn’t anything extraordinary to those who passed them by around camp, talking about money or lack of food. To Arthur it was. His justified anger towards John became fondness for the family he left behind. It had to be a cruel joke. He, who had a family before, was now forced to watch his best friend throw it all away.

Arthur couldn’t force his eyes to look at the gun he was cleaning, to the woods he was supposed to be watching. A magnetic force kept dragging him to Abigail. The same could be said about her. The moving picture show kept running through his head with pauses. The first months after John left them, disbelief uniting them. The late nights that came not long after, Arthur would rock Jack to sleep. And finally, the moment he hesitated for holding Abigail’s hand for a moment too long.

“That’s such a beautiful drawing, son!”, she said running her fingers through the boy’s light hair.

“Pa!”, he said pointing to the creased sand in front of him, “Pa?”

Abigail’s smile fell apart in an Instant, the well-composed face she had been wearing, vanished. She was strong, no doubt about that, but in days like these, she would ask her self why. Why must a child be subjected to the changing will of a man?

“Pa is working right now, Jack. He’ll be back soon, alright?”

It was hard to tell how much of it Jack truly understood, but in his toddler world, the oddly shaped rock held more importance for now. Getting up with clumsy steps, he left his mom alone.

“That goddamn prize idiot”, the words escaped Arthur before he could think them through.

Abigail looked up, now unable to keep pretending Arthur wasn’t there, when in fact, he was the only one who was.

“I’m the idiot one, for thinking he would be a man and help me raise the boy.”, there was no resistance left on her voice, even a sturdy tree has weak branches. Saying that, Abigail hid her face, she wouldn’t cry, she couldn’t.

“No Abigail, you ain’t.”, his hand hovered around her shaky shoulders, “You ain’t nothing but strong for doing all of this alone.”

His judgment was clouded by the need to comfort her. Seeing her suffer like this, so unfairly, placed a dark cloud on Arthur’s heart.

“But you ain’t alone… you know that right?” the question on his eye met the uncertainty on hers.

Even if he was there, how could this be? How to explain to Jack that the father he saw three days ago was not the one who cared about him?

“I wish he would just leave me then, leave me to choose who…”, she sighed, “each time he comes back I get my hopes up. And for nothing.”

“I won’t make excuses for John… he’s scared, I was too…”, the thought of Isaac always got Arthur’s voice to shake, “but I wish he could see he’s not the only one. We’ll make this work, alright? The boy will be fine.”

For a moment or so, Abigail believed him. A future where they all would be safe. Jack would go fishing with Arthur, she would cook them dinner and the boys would tease her about her lack of skills… That future smiled at her around the corner, yet it seemed so wrong. John was the boy’s father. Not Arthur.

That’s why when she leaned closer, as close as she ever dared, it surprised her as well.

“Abigail, I don’t want it to seem like I’m taking advantage of what’s going on…“, Arthur said to her lips, almost rubbing them together, “But it would be a goddamn lie if I told you I don’t want this.”

Her lips were cold, he didn’t expect that. Abigail was frozen and he could tell by bringing her back, by breathing life into her. It was her first true kiss.

“And I wouldn’t ever want to lie to you.”

“I’m not in my right mind, Arthur. I should… I should wait for John, he’ll come around, right?”

He didn’t want to tell her what was on his mind. It was plain for them both to see, yet she would escape him like sand between the fingers. Jack’s cry broke their spell.

“I should… go.”, exhaustion got her stumbling. It must have been days since she had a proper sleep.

“One night Abigail. Let me take you to town, you and Jack. We’ll go somewhere no one knows us.”, he helped her up, “Let me show you what I think you really deserve. Not what you got used to.”

Her mouth was open, then it wasn’t anymore. Abigail Roberts never was a woman of few words, but there she was, speechless by an immoral offer that she had every intention to agree with. This wasn’t some crazy teenage runway. Arthur saw her for who she really was - a mother, a lady. And he wanted every aspect of it.

“I’ll pack my things.”

———————————————————————————————————-

The morning broke hazy, another reminder of her clouded judgment. Blaming all in exhaustion and revenge was easier than facing her true reasons. Jack slept peacefully, wrapped in his woolly blanket. Hosea asked no questions and was happy to look after the boy for a day or two.

The feeling on her gut screamed that things already started wrong if she had to lie to Hosea about where she was going. To the excuse of teaming up with Arthur to find John, she left camp.

“I feel bad for leaving Jack behind…”, Abigail sighed, her arms wrapped around Arthur’s torso, “He doesn’t deserve this… his stranger of a father, this selfish mother.”

“We can still bring him with us, but I won’t blame you for wanting to rest for a bit.”, there was indissoluble tension between them, he kept wishing to caress her tired face, let her rest her head in his shoulder, but Arthur wasn’t sure of how much of it was wished by her.

The comfortable rocking of the horse’s gallop made her eyes weight tons. Abigail’s head kept bobbing, and the cold forest around made their proximity even more tempting.

 

“It should be somewhere around here… The feller said to take the right or the left?”, he wasn’t counting on getting lost in the falling afternoon, wasting time on the road when they could be together.

“Left.”, she grew silent, probably doubting if she should have ever followed him there, “Mighty fine inviting me someplace you don’t even know how to get to.”

Those sharp words would have worried him if not spoken by Abigail, there was humor in her voice.

“That’s the girl I know! But don’t let sassiness get over your head just yet, that sign over there says Strawberry.”

The cold breeze blew the last of the sunlight, dissipating a few clouds to reveal a starry sky. The city was much more a painting than a real-life scenery. Truly beautiful.

“That’s some fancy town you brought me to.”, said Abigail under her breath, impressed by how the moonlight seemed to stream down along the river that split the town in two.

“Are you hungry? There must be a saloon around here where we-“

“Starving! Can we have dinner somewhere?”, her eyes lost a bit of the tiredness around them. For the first time in months, Abigail’s face was just like Arthur remembered, full of light.


End file.
